Osh Authorities: No Probe Into Journalists' Beating

OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Law enforcement officials in Osh say they are not investigating a reported assault on two journalists in the southern Kyrgyz city, because the pair failed to undergo a medical examination, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

RFE/RL correspondents reported from Osh on June 20 that Chynara Sydykova, a reporter for NTS television channel, and Vladimir Bezborodov, a cameraman for Internews Media Center, were attacked and beaten while filming a protest staged by supporters of a parliament deputy charged over a brawl.

But Zamir Sydykov, the press service chief for Osh Interior Affairs Department, told RFE/RL that investigations into the "alleged beating of the two journalists have not been launched because the incident was not officially confirmed by any local hospitals."

Sydykov told RFE/RL that the journalists should have undergone a medical examination to document the injuries they allegedly sustained.

The presidential press service, in a statement, called on local police to thoroughly investigate the incident.